RFID chips are often assigned and issued to participants in events to time, identify, and/or track the participants in the events. A single RFID chip could be assigned and issued to a single participant or to a group of participants. Examples of events that assign and issue RFID chips to participants include, but are not limited to, running events such as marathons, half marathons, 5 k runs and the like, duathlons, triathlons, bicycle races/rides, and other events. Each RFID chip stores a unique identifier and optionally other data. Readers are capable of communicating with the RFID chips and reading the unique identifier of each chip.
RFID chips and readers use Radio Frequency (RF) waves to communicate. Recent advances in electronics have made it possible to manufacture RFID chips that have no power source of their own. These RFID chips, usually referred to as passive chips, harvest all of their power from the incident RF wave. They modulate and partially reflect the RF wave to communicate with readers. Passive RFID chips are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and can be used as disposable RFID chips.
Each event participant carries the assigned RFID chip embedded in a wrist band or ankle strap worn by the participant, attached to one of their shoes, attached to an assigned bib that is worn by the participant, attached to their bicycle, or the like. In some events, an RFID reader reads the RFID chip at the start line and at the finish line, and optionally at one or more additional locations between the start and finish. For each read operation, the unique identifier of the RFID chip and a time stamp is recorded. These records are used to calculate an event completion time for each participant, track each participant's progress through the event, and the like.
For some events, the participants are usually required to register with the event organizer prior to the start of the event. The event organizer typically assigns a unique identification number to each participant. This unique number is often referred to as the “race number” which is used to uniquely identify the participants before, during, and after the race. For some events, the race number may be printed or otherwise provided on a “race bib” which is worn by the participants during the event. The race number is typically assigned after the participant registers and before the participant picks up their race bib.
When RFID systems are used in an event, it is necessary to establish a relation between the event registrant, the unique identifier of the RFID chip for the registrant, and the race number of the registrant. Currently, establishing such relation is labor intensive and error prone. The process typically involves manually entering the chip number for each registered participant into a computer program and assuring that the correct RFID chip is delivered to each participant along with the race bibs.